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Enduring Questions & Ideas (General Education)

Concordia’s Enduring Questions & Ideas (Q&I) general education curriculum is the foundation for all academic work at the university. Composed of Core and Exploration courses, Q&I provides the essential knowledge an educated person should possess and the intellectual habits and skills necessary to use it well in every area of life. Through this broad intellectual experience, students pursue the general education learning outcomes that Concordia faculty have identified as crucial for achieving excellence in academics and being prepared to serve society and the church as “wise, honorable, and cultivated citizens.”

Q&I Core Courses

Concordia's Q&I Core courses foster common, sequential, and interdisciplinary learning, providing a broad intellectual foundation that will be drawn on and developed in students’ Q&I Exploration courses, majors, minors, and professional programs. Q&I Core courses in biology, history, literature, math, philosophy, and theology are paired each semester to facilitate interdisciplinary learning. Each Q&I Core course engages students in dialogue about some of life’s enduring questions and ideas, the close reading of great works from around the globe and across time, critical and creative thinking, effective writing, connecting the Christian faith to academics, and cultivating excellent academic habits and skills. All students take Q&I Core courses in small, challenging, and encouraging learning communities. Students entering as freshmen take 8 Q&I Core courses: 2 pairs in the freshman year, 1 pair in the sophomore year, and 1 pair in the junior year. Students entering as sophomores take 4 Q&I Core courses, ordinarily over their first 2 semesters. Students entering as juniors or seniors take 2 Q&I Core courses, ordinarily in their first semester.

Q&I Exploration Courses

Q&I Exploration courses build on the habits and intellectual foundations of the Q&I Core courses and broaden students’ knowledge and skills in other essential areas of life. Students take an array of liberal arts and science courses to address more big questions while developing the knowledge, habits, and skills to do so wisely and honorably. Q&I Exploration courses help students discover their multiple God-given callings in life, become eloquent communicators, evaluate how they interact with other people, understand nature and how they should live, analyze the impact of art in culture and Christianity, and answer Jesus’ question: “Who do you say that I am?” These courses—along with the Q&I Core courses—enrich students’ minds, bodies, and souls for intelligent, virtuous, and faithful service to society and the church.